Some of the popular remedies of the past included the asafetida bag worn around the neck; poultices for croup; the spider web, or cobweb, placed on the open cut to stop the flow of blood; the axe placed under the bed to relieve leg cramps and pains; hog manure placed on the throat for mumps; the carrying of a horse chestnut to ward off rheumatism; and the dirty sock wrapped around the throat for quinsy. Some of these ancient practices persisted until modern times according to Dr. Smith.
(Note: Asafetida=An acrid, lumpy gum resin; formerly used as a carminative and antispasmodic; Carminative=Expelling gas from the stomach and bowels; Quinsy=An abscess located between the tonsil and the pharynx, accompanied by a severe sore throat and fever. GWD)
Then there were plant medications. It was stated that God created all things for good and it behooved man to find the useful purposes. Peppermint, catnip, pennyroyal, and elderberry were dried and kept available. Wild carrot was used for backache; sumac berries for bed wetting; sassafras as a blood builder; burdock root for boils; slippery elm for bruises; and boneset was used to heal broken bones.
Salves were made from most animal fats; the hog, goose, bear, and groundhog were in common use for greasing, and even the hop toad and the rattlesnake were used. Manure became a medicine especially as a poultice as well as a tea. Measles were commonly treated with a tea made from sheep dung.
Were these the mark of poor, illiterate Germans? George Washington carried a horse chestnut in his pocket for years, in the belief that it prevented rheumatism. George even consulted a self-styled German doctor in Pennsylvania about a cure for persons bit by wild animals.
Among the preventive measures of the Germans were Haus Sagen (literally, House Sayings ), blessings framed and hung on the wall to protect the inhabitants. Sometimes they were printed, but might be carved also. The Himmelsbrief (letter from heaven) was popular for protecting the bearer against wounds. This dates back to 1523, when the original dropped from heaven. Copies were made and widely distributed.
Bothered by animals such as rats, moles, moths, or skunks? You could write a letter to the offender and suggest that he might be better off at a neighbor's home. It was considered impolite to simply ask the animal to leave; you should offer it a better alternative. If the moles were bothering you, your note would be tied to a stake and driven into the ground where the moles were busy. One even wrote letters to bedbugs, but, to help them make their exodus, one constructed bridges over the waterways.
The groundhog tradition was slightly different in Germany, where the animal was the badger and the time to observe him was four weeks after Christmas, not forty days.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.